Amnesty International Sierra Leone in a report launched on Friday November 6th has called on government to guarantee girls human rights to non-discrimination and education by immediately lifting the ban on pregnant girls attending mainstream school and sitting exams.
AI says this is urgent and must be immediately addressed in relation to the forthcoming exams in late November 2015. “The government must also, as a matter of urgency, protect girls’ rights to privacy, physical and mental integrity, as is their right to be free from inhuman and degrading treatment by issuing a directive to all schools prohibiting the checking or testing of girls for pregnancy.” Amnesty International’s Researcher Sabrina Mantani said.
She reported that report they launched also called on the government to develop and implement a programme of comprehensive sexuality education as part of the curricula delivered in all schools to enable people, boys and girls alike, to take informed decisions about their sexuality and health.
The curricula that Amnesty is calling for should include information to help prevent sexually transmitted diseases and early or unwanted pregnancy.
It could be recalled that the Ministry of Education banned pregnant girls from taking exams and going to school with regular pupils. This prohibition was declared as an official government policy in April 2015, just before the re-opening of schools following the ebola crisis.
Amnesty says the exclusion of pregnant girls from mainstream education and from sitting exams pre-dates the outbreak of ebola; however, the official declaration of the ban when schools re-opened has sparked renewed debate and concern about this issue in Sierra Leone. It is not clear how many girls are affected by the ban. Official figures suggest 3, 000, but experts mapping the situation indicate that the true figure is far higher. Some say it is 10,000 while another report says it is more than 15,000.
Amnesty says they are urging government to guarantee girls’ right to health, including access to sexual and reproductive health information and services, and in particular post rape services. It also calls for further action to eradicate violence against girls, to protect girls at risk, and enforce laws against perpetrators of sexual violence.
Amnesty International urges that attending the alternative system be optional for those girls who do not wish to continue at mainstream schools and also that the government makes sure that the girls who go to the alternative system can count on equal quality and content of education.
In addition, Amnesty is calling on Sierra Leone’s international partners to continue efforts to support the Sierra Leone government to fully comply with its international legal obligations to ensure the protection of pregnant girls’ human rights.
They want steps taken to ensure all programmes are in line with human rights standards and do not reinforce stigma or undermine pregnant girls’ right to equality and no-discrimination.
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